The present invention relates to ceiling fans.
A typical ceiling fan will include a downrod suspended from the ceiling, a motor having a motor shaft connected to a lower portion of the downrod and a motor body which rotates about the motor shaft, a motor housing secured to either the motor shaft or the downrod assembly which is stationary and surrounds the motor, blade mounting irons which connect to the motor body and extend out of an opening of the motor housing, and blades attached to the blade irons below the motor housing. The use of a separate stationary motor housing forces the blade irons of a typical ceiling fan to extend out of an opening in the housing, which increases the vertical dimension of the portion of the ceiling fan suspended below the downrod. Therefore, there is a need for methods and apparatuses of mounting the fan blades to the motor body which will reduce the vertical dimension of the ceiling fan below the downrod assembly.
Because the motor housing of a typical ceiling fan encloses the motor, the motor housing must have various openings to allow the escape of heat from the motor. However, the openings in the motor housing complicate the design of the motor housing and may limit the escape of heat from the motor because of the limited availability of the apertures in the motor housing. Therefore, there is a need for motor housing that will provide the motor with better heat transfer than a typical motor housing.
Also, electrical wiring for operating a typical ceiling fan passes through a single downrod to the motor. The single downrod screws onto the motor shaft to secure the motor there below. However, the size of the wiring will limit the minimum size of the downrod. Therefore, there is a need for alternative downrods that can have a reduced diameter, and a method of securing the motor to the alternative downrods.